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ainslieruhl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“the personal, the political, and the romantic were often oddly intertwined.”
cassandra clare you will never be forgiven for all the torture you put me through. that ending had me fighting demons (tears). also i HATE zara. worst character ever i hope she ROTS
real talk though i did enjoy the book, though not as much as the first one (though not enough to give them different ratings), as this one was a bit slower paced. i did appreciate that this book leaned a lot more into the politics and less on the romance, even though i barely understood what was going on no matter how many times they explained (skill issue by me). i really enjoyed the perspectives of the other characters - esp mark & kit!!!!! - a lot more than emma’s or julian’s. something about the way that cassandra clare writes i just always find very captivating, or maybe it’s just that she always writes found family.
it feels like there’s a LOT that needs to be wrapped up in book three but i guess that’s easy when it’s 900 PAGES. i hear that people don’t like it as much but i will be reading anyway of course. i’m an addict.
cassandra clare you will never be forgiven for all the torture you put me through. that ending had me fighting demons (tears). also i HATE zara. worst character ever i hope she ROTS
real talk though i did enjoy the book, though not as much as the first one (though not enough to give them different ratings), as this one was a bit slower paced. i did appreciate that this book leaned a lot more into the politics and less on the romance, even though i barely understood what was going on no matter how many times they explained (skill issue by me). i really enjoyed the perspectives of the other characters - esp mark & kit!!!!! - a lot more than emma’s or julian’s. something about the way that cassandra clare writes i just always find very captivating, or maybe it’s just that she always writes found family.
it feels like there’s a LOT that needs to be wrapped up in book three but i guess that’s easy when it’s 900 PAGES. i hear that people don’t like it as much but i will be reading anyway of course. i’m an addict.
fath1ma's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
wherethewidlies's review against another edition
5.0
NO ONE FUCKING TOUCH THE BLACKTHORNS UNDER MY WATCH
kaila2464's review against another edition
5.0
I’m not crying, you are. I’ve read this book twice and the ending never gets any easier
blurrypetals's review against another edition
5.0
July 17, 2019
[re-read for Shadowhunter Summer 2019]
All my Shadowhunter Summer 2019 reviews may contain untagged spoilers for all the books in The Shadowhunter Chronicles. If you wish to read a non-spoiler review for this book, you may scroll to the review I wrote on November 6, 2017.
I always feel as though I've been through an ordeal after reading this book, especially with that frantic, feverish, and absolutely fucked up final chapter, where things go so incredibly wrong so incredibly quickly, the reader has no time to catch their breath as gut-punch after gut-punch is doled out.
My copy of Lord of Shadows is positively littered with post-it notes. All my books in The Shadowhunter Chronicles are (I'm so pumped to get to Ghosts of the Shadow Market and join it with its rainbow brethren) but this book is special in that I have read it three times, each of which were times where I was and have been obsessed with annotating and posting all of the things in regards to this series. Sure, I started annotating these books back when Clockwork Prince came out, but I didn't reach this degree of post-it placing until the last few years, since about 2016, which is right before this book came out. I'm very excited to see how Queen of Air and Darkness fares upon its reread, especially since it's the book I have placed the most post-its in upon first reading.
This book is just as fantastic as past-me chalks it up to be. I am so invested in all these characters' stories and that is an incredible feat, considering just how many main characters this book has. Sure, Emma and Julian are the book's main-main characters, but we also have Kit, who's almost on as high a level as Emma and Julian are, as far as dedicated POV sections go, and his story largely involves Ty and Livvy, making them the main characters of his story. Then, of course we have Mark, Cristina, and Kieran in their pre-thruple love tangle, Drusilla and Jaime in their small side story, Diana and Gwyn in their incredible little romance story, Annabel and all her insanity...the list goes on. It's insane. It's insane that Cassandra Clare is able to so masterfully juggle such an absolutely massive cast, a cast which only grows larger and more complex in Queen of Air and Darkness, and Clare nails that, too.
But that's for next time. Catch you in the review for the Queen, the penultimate entry in Shadowhunter Sumer 2019 and the finale to The Dark Artifices! I'm fuckin' pumped, gang! Let's do this shit!
November 6, 2017
[re-read for my Greatest Hits Bookshelf Tour 2017]
I'm not going to go into great detail about my thoughts and feelings about this book because I read and reviewed it less than six months ago, so I feel like trying to review it now, so soon after its release and without any new books to give me new or different perspective would end up being somewhat redundant.
But because this is the final Shadowhunters book I'll be reading for my Greatest Hits Bookshelf Tour 2017, I'll say just one more thing: these books are an absolute delight. There are times when I actually feel bad for the people who can't, don't, or just haven't yet experienced the same kind of joy and love I feel when reading these books. The characters are wonderful, the settings are fantastic, the writing is beautiful, and it all adds up to one of the greatest, most unique treats I've personally had the pleasure of experiencing in fantasy literature to date.
If you haven't already gotten this impression from me before, I'll say it one last time: if you haven't read The Shadowhunter Chronicles in their current entirety (and likely their future, complete entirety) you should probably remedy that. They're incredible, you can count on that.
June 15, 2017
This is the first Cassandra Clare book I've read where I was able to stretch it out and really enjoy it for more than just a few days before I waiting for another year and a half for the next book. That said, I absolutely adored this book.
It had its fair share of heartache, but it's also one of the most absolutely fun Shadowhunters books that has happened thus far. There's lots of kissing, sneaking around, adventure, friendship triumphing over all, curses, monsters, forbidden love...man, it's just the quintessential Cassandra Clare Shadowhunters book.
I've said this before, but her writing is getting better and better. I ended up using over 148 post-it flags, which is more than the flags I put in Clockwork Princess, City of Heavenly Fire, and Lady Midnight put together. Yeah. Anyway.
I loved Kit's acceptance of the Herondale name, I loved pretty much every single scene involving Julian and Emma, I loved Ty, Livvy, and Kit going on missions, I loved Jessamine haunting the London Institute and Kit being the only one who could see her, I loved it all, I really did. It was absolutely excellent and I absolutely cannot wait to see how it all wraps up, because the future looks so dark for these poor, sad kids that I'm unsure I can even see it.
[re-read for Shadowhunter Summer 2019]
"Do you know why I'm sure?" he whispered, kissing her temple, her cheek where it tasted like salt. "Because when this universe was born, when it blasted into existence in fire and glory, everything that would ever exist was created. Our souls are made of that fire and glory, or the atoms of it, the fragments of stars. Everyone's are, but I believe ours, yours and mine, are made from the dust of the same star. That's why we've always been drawn to each other like magnets, all our lives. All the pieces of us belong together."
All my Shadowhunter Summer 2019 reviews may contain untagged spoilers for all the books in The Shadowhunter Chronicles. If you wish to read a non-spoiler review for this book, you may scroll to the review I wrote on November 6, 2017.
I always feel as though I've been through an ordeal after reading this book, especially with that frantic, feverish, and absolutely fucked up final chapter, where things go so incredibly wrong so incredibly quickly, the reader has no time to catch their breath as gut-punch after gut-punch is doled out.
My copy of Lord of Shadows is positively littered with post-it notes. All my books in The Shadowhunter Chronicles are (I'm so pumped to get to Ghosts of the Shadow Market and join it with its rainbow brethren) but this book is special in that I have read it three times, each of which were times where I was and have been obsessed with annotating and posting all of the things in regards to this series. Sure, I started annotating these books back when Clockwork Prince came out, but I didn't reach this degree of post-it placing until the last few years, since about 2016, which is right before this book came out. I'm very excited to see how Queen of Air and Darkness fares upon its reread, especially since it's the book I have placed the most post-its in upon first reading.
This book is just as fantastic as past-me chalks it up to be. I am so invested in all these characters' stories and that is an incredible feat, considering just how many main characters this book has. Sure, Emma and Julian are the book's main-main characters, but we also have Kit, who's almost on as high a level as Emma and Julian are, as far as dedicated POV sections go, and his story largely involves Ty and Livvy, making them the main characters of his story. Then, of course we have Mark, Cristina, and Kieran in their pre-thruple love tangle, Drusilla and Jaime in their small side story, Diana and Gwyn in their incredible little romance story, Annabel and all her insanity...the list goes on. It's insane. It's insane that Cassandra Clare is able to so masterfully juggle such an absolutely massive cast, a cast which only grows larger and more complex in Queen of Air and Darkness, and Clare nails that, too.
But that's for next time. Catch you in the review for the Queen, the penultimate entry in Shadowhunter Sumer 2019 and the finale to The Dark Artifices! I'm fuckin' pumped, gang! Let's do this shit!
November 6, 2017
[re-read for my Greatest Hits Bookshelf Tour 2017]
I'm not going to go into great detail about my thoughts and feelings about this book because I read and reviewed it less than six months ago, so I feel like trying to review it now, so soon after its release and without any new books to give me new or different perspective would end up being somewhat redundant.
But because this is the final Shadowhunters book I'll be reading for my Greatest Hits Bookshelf Tour 2017, I'll say just one more thing: these books are an absolute delight. There are times when I actually feel bad for the people who can't, don't, or just haven't yet experienced the same kind of joy and love I feel when reading these books. The characters are wonderful, the settings are fantastic, the writing is beautiful, and it all adds up to one of the greatest, most unique treats I've personally had the pleasure of experiencing in fantasy literature to date.
If you haven't already gotten this impression from me before, I'll say it one last time: if you haven't read The Shadowhunter Chronicles in their current entirety (and likely their future, complete entirety) you should probably remedy that. They're incredible, you can count on that.
June 15, 2017
This is the first Cassandra Clare book I've read where I was able to stretch it out and really enjoy it for more than just a few days before I waiting for another year and a half for the next book. That said, I absolutely adored this book.
It had its fair share of heartache, but it's also one of the most absolutely fun Shadowhunters books that has happened thus far. There's lots of kissing, sneaking around, adventure, friendship triumphing over all, curses, monsters, forbidden love...man, it's just the quintessential Cassandra Clare Shadowhunters book.
I've said this before, but her writing is getting better and better. I ended up using over 148 post-it flags, which is more than the flags I put in Clockwork Princess, City of Heavenly Fire, and Lady Midnight put together. Yeah. Anyway.
I loved Kit's acceptance of the Herondale name, I loved pretty much every single scene involving Julian and Emma, I loved Ty, Livvy, and Kit going on missions, I loved Jessamine haunting the London Institute and Kit being the only one who could see her, I loved it all, I really did. It was absolutely excellent and I absolutely cannot wait to see how it all wraps up, because the future looks so dark for these poor, sad kids that I'm unsure I can even see it.
jenamanda1228's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
andreamariee4's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
This would have been 5 stars if Cassandra would stop unnecessarily killing children… she had me hooked the whole time!
kiki6k's review against another edition
5.0
"Lord of Shadows" is a magnificent sequel that lives up to the hype! It delivers the high-stakes action, intricate world-building, and witty humor that fans crave from the Shadowhunter Chronicles.
This book dives deeper than ever before, exploring the aftermath of the Cold Peace, rising tensions, and complex character relationships. Cassandra Clare weaves a story grander and more thrilling than ever imagined. My theories were challenged and exceeded, leaving me both surprised and delighted.
We get to see the world through fresh eyes with perspectives from Kit, Ty, Livvy, Dru, and Diana. Witnessing their growth alongside the continued development of Emma, Julian, Mark, and Cristina is a highlight. The characters all face their burdens head-on, making them even more endearing.
The plot seamlessly interweaves elements from TMI, TID, and even hints of TLH, creating a rich tapestry for longtime fans. The journeys to various locations, from London to Faerie, are filled with adventure, excitement, and heartbreak. Cassie's writing continues to mature, taking risks that pay off beautifully.
"Lord of Shadows" is a must-read for Shadowhunter fans. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, leaving you satisfied, heartbroken, and eager for more! I can't wait for you to experience this story!